Hoping to curb New York’s worsening retail crime challenges, state lawmakers last week passed a bill that would require many retailers to install panic buttons in their stores.
This may sound logical, and it was undoubtedly well-intentioned. But the truth is that it is a costly mandate that will do little to reduce shoplifting and other crimes and will likely only create new headaches for state law enforcement. Gov. Kathy Hochul should veto this bill — or at least demand that the Legislature amend it — and instead focus on real solutions to address retail crime.
No one questions an employee’s right to feel safe in their workplace. In theory, a bill that forces retailers to add numerous panic buttons in their stores would help achieve this goal. But the bill now awaiting action from the governor ignores two important realities.
First, adding a slew of new panic buttons to stores will almost undoubtedly cause far more false alarms than actual alerts about crimes in progress. This will send already-strained local police departments – many of which are facing unprecedented manpower shortages – on a wild goose chase to stores where an employee has misinterpreted a situation or accidentally set off an alarm.
In other cases, police may rush to a shoplifting incident only to find that a store owner doesn’t want to press charges, or that the alleged perpetrator has already escaped – with the stolen merchandise in hand. Panic button alerts are also much less useful to law enforcement than a 911 call, because a panic button alert would not provide additional details about the possible crime in progress.
Second, panic buttons do nothing to address the real issues that are driving retail crime rates up. At the top of the list are the high recidivism rates among those caught shoplifting. A recent New York City Police Department study found that 327 people were responsible for 30 percent of the city’s shoplifting arrests in 2022 – an average of 20 arrests each. These criminals already know that there will be virtually no consequences even if they are arrested for shoplifting. Why would a panic button deter them?
Instead of focusing on panic buttons, state leaders must take action to stop these repeat offenders. This includes the power of prosecutors to charge shoplifters with crimes after repeat offenses. Lawmakers should also overhaul bail reform so that repeat offenders can be held in jail rather than sent back onto the streets to continue victimizing retailers and customers.
Hochul was on the right track to take a stand against retail crime in April, when she secured $45 million from the state budget to create a retail crime task force led by law enforcement. The budget also made it an offense to assault retail workers – an acknowledgment that tougher penalties are needed when it comes to reducing retail crime.
Hochul also ushered in the concept of shoplifting aggregation, which allows prosecutors to combine the value of stolen goods when reporting thefts. This allows properties from different stores to be pooled to reach a higher theft threshold, meaning persistent shoplifters can be charged with misdemeanor-level crimes.
Now we need state lawmakers to take the same approach toward those who so blatantly target virtually every type of retail business — from major chains to independent grocery stores and bodegas.
The bill awaiting Hochul’s signature will not make retail workers safer and will only serve to undermine her work to find real solutions to the problems facing retailers across the state. The Governor should directly veto this bill and work with law enforcement to give them the tools they need to do their job and curb this growing scourge in New York.
Richmond County District Attorney Michael E. McMahon is president of the District Attorneys Association of the State of New York, or DAASNY, and Delaware County Sheriff Craig DuMond is president of the New York State Sheriffs’ Association, or NYSA .
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: New York’s panic button mandate must be vetoed by Governor Kathy Hochul
